John U. Bacon on MLB All-Star highlights and the Tigers' to-do list

Major League Baseball presented an all-star game with highlights in Atlanta on Tuesday evening. The Detroit Tigers had six players in the game. Now the team hopes to get back into the all-star break with its longest defeat of the season after spinning.

Michigan public sports commentator John U. Bacon tied together Morning edition Host Doug Tribou to discuss this and the resignation of a coaching legend of the Michigan University.

Doug Tribou: Over the years there have been some stumbling blocks with the MLB All-Star game. The youngest was the decision to put the players in custom all-star play uniforms instead of having their regular team uniforms wearing, which was a tradition that the fans loved. But this year MLB brought back the regular uniforms and there were also many other nice details. What attracted her attention, John?

John U. Bacon: Well, especially that. They actually heard the fans. Baseball relies more on tradition than basketball, football and hockey. Why should you rob yourself of it? The uniforms were great, but also – and I know that they saw this – the enormous homage to Hank Aaron, of course, a baseball player from Atlanta. And the game was played in Atlanta. That was just wonderful. Touch.

Dt: Yes. I mean an astonishing moment to honor the 51st anniversary of him, who comes by Babe Ruths Homerun as a whole. And technologically it was visually breathtaking, but only a moving moment in a city in which he played.

Jub: It is really good whether you like baseball or not. It's just a wonderfully made tribute. And they also had the ball strike challenge. Something old, something new, Doug, here we go. Like a wedding. And that was: if the pitcher, the catcher or the dough thought that the ball or the strike call was wrong, you could challenge it on site. And if you are right, you can keep your ball or strike.

DT: Everyone had a few laughter in the all-star game evening. I suspect that it will not be the case-the laugh-if it will be regular seasonal practice in the future.

Jub: In fact, let me predict this, Doug. This is the last time someone laughs about it. trust me [Laughs].

Dt: [Laughs] Major League Baseball also presented a new tiebreaker for the All-Star game and then had to use it immediately. The All-Star game no longer goes into additional innings, and when the game is bound to nine, the teams become a swing. And that happened this week. It is a short-form Homerun derby with three players from every team. What did you do about this new turn?

Jub: Well, it is better than stopping the game, as it was in 2002 when the game was bound and the jugs went out of them. This shows you the complete lack of Bud Selig's imagination, the entertainment amount at that time. Man, bring in a left field player and play a few batteries. Trust me, it won't take long if you do it. Nevertheless, it was fine. You have to catch your flights [out of town]I know that. And so everything was fine.

DT: This year the tigers had six-count 'EM, six-all stars.

Jub: Yes!

DT: But the team hurled the all-star break with the longest defeat of the season: four games. On Friday evening, the Tigers will resume the regular season-with the Rangers a series with three games in Texas. What are the keys to Detroit to keep your dynamics when we move on the dog days of summer?

Jub: Well, that's easy. Stay healthy. You have the best team in the Major League baseball because it looks. Despite it. Despite the four games lost. They seem to have all the parts they need: pitching, hits, fields and so on. And to prove it, they had six all stars. That says something.

But you also have to recognize that this team has scored two winning people with four games and four winning people of four games. Tiger's fans, that's how it works. Suck it up. But it will be fine. And they drive into the playoffs, I swear by God. They rose by 11.5 games in their division. Far from the best of every division. So this team looks very, very good.

DT: This week, a legend in the world of women's college gymnastics announced their retirement. BEV Plocki trained 36 seasons from the University of Michigan women's team and led U of M to their first national title in 2021. She also led the Wolverines to 26 big ten championships. What is your career called?

Jub: Well, pretty much everything you just said. Look, the 26 Big Ten titles are most of every trainer in every sport, at any time in the history of the conference. That goes back to 1895. It's pretty good. So it is also difficult to be so good for so long, year after year. That is suddenly excellence and consistency. Of course, this is as rare as possible. They were so close to a national title so often and they finally got it.

But let me add it because I have been taught at the University of Michigan for 15 years, I had many of your gymnasts in my class – probably most of you. And they were first -class student athletes. So look, Bev Plocki is either the Carol Hutchins, the [former] Michigan Softball coach from Gymstics – or Carol Hutchins is the BEV Plocki from softball. Make your choice because you are both as good as for decades in Michigan. Difficult to beat.

DT: Good society in both directions. John, thank you very much.

Jub: Doug, thank you.

Note from the publisher: Some quotes in this article were processed for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview at the top of this page.

The Michigan University holds Michigan's round radio license.